Influence of the Greek alphabet on formation of the Cyrillic script

Anna Kulik

Abstract

The following article discusses the influence of the Greek alphabet on formation of the Cyrillic script. As a result of the analysis, it has been stated that the Byzantine alphabet influenced the second Slavic alphabet directly and indirectly. The direct influence of the Greek alphabet on the Cyrillic script results in the presence of letters taken from the classical Greek alphabet and its ionic variety. The impact is also visible in the shape of letters and their numerical meaning. As for the indirect influence, in the Cyrillic script by means of Glagolitic one may notice the Greek arrangement of letters. The way of naming letters is also taken from Greek as well as the contour of letter Ψ.

Keywords:

алфавит/азбука, кириллица, греческий/византийский